The Latest Breaking News from Cleveland Dodd

Children's commissioner ignored on laws targeting kids

Legal and policy reforms since a damning royal commission report have continued to breach children's rights, a youth justice inquiry has been told.

AAP · Apr 28

Australia 'stained' by its treatment of child offenders

Australia has been slammed for its juvenile justice laws as UN experts sound the alarm over the growing number of people in prison without a sentence.

AAP · Dec 12, 2025

'Breaks my heart': mum's anguish as teen inquest ends

The mother of a teen who fatally self-harmed in custody says she understands why her son took his life after a coroner delivered his inquest findings.

AAP · Dec 7, 2025

Coroner calls for urgent closure of troubled youth jail

The coroner hearing an inquest for an Indigenous teen who fatally self-harmed in a youth detention centre has provisionally recommended the facility close.

AAP · Dec 10, 2024

Reform thwarted at jail with 'racist' culture: inquest

A senior public servant faced barriers "way beyond what I imagined" when he tried to turn around a trouble-plagued youth detention centre.

AAP · Dec 5, 2024

'Cruel, inhuman, degrading' treatment in crowded jails

Overcrowded and understaffed jails are breaching prisoners' human rights, with some subjected to "inhuman" treatment as cases of self-harm rise.

AAP · Nov 6, 2024

'Hurting': Indigenous family wants inquest focus on son

The parents of an Indigenous teen who died after self-harming in detention want the inquest to refocus on their son after a bid to remove the coroner failed.

AAP · Oct 8, 2024

Teen's custody death triggers call for justice overhaul

The death of a second Indigenous teenager in custody in less than a year has prompted calls for an overhaul of the youth justice system.

AAP · Aug 31, 2024

Indigenous teenager dies at WA’s Banksia Hill youth detention centre

The 17-year-old is the second child to die in custody in Western Australia in less than a year

The Guardian - AU · Aug 30, 2024

'Horrible, horrible': Indigenous teen dies in detention

An Indigenous teenager was checked 10 times by youth detention staff before he was found dead inside a cell at a centre.

AAP · Aug 30, 2024